


An Unusual Patrol

by DreamingOfVenus



Series: DC & Marvel Reader-Insert Stories [1]
Category: DC Extended Universe, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Comic, Crime Fighting, F/M, Friendship, One Shot, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28221396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingOfVenus/pseuds/DreamingOfVenus
Summary: What happens when Friday night patrol between the Reader and Nightwing gets off on a rocky start?
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Reader
Series: DC & Marvel Reader-Insert Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2068761
Kudos: 14





	An Unusual Patrol

“You’re lucky; my blaster stopped working when it did, [Y/N]. Or else I totally would’ve beaten your score.”

“Is that so?”

“It is. That game is notorious for having faulty blaster controllers.”

“Then why did you insist on us playing it, Dick?”

The humming of the surrounding machines filled the arcade's dank atmosphere, besides the raised voices that would occasionally penetrate through the electronic buzzing.

The neon pink light of the arcade machine that sat beside [Y/N] and Dick’s table lit up the side of Dick’s face, which [Y/N] was scanning with her [e/c] eyes as she sipped away at her soda. Dick sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

“You got me. I didn’t expect you to be so good, so I might’ve gotten a bit reckless in the last round. Nobody has ever gotten a higher score than I have before, but I can’t say that anymore.”

Smiling triumphantly, [Y/N] playfully flipped her [h/c] hair over her shoulder. “What can I say? I’m just that good.”

Dick chuckled, crossing his arms over his broad chest and tilting his head to the side. “I guess so.”

Dick and [Y/N] had been friends for the longest time. As the daughter of two rich business people who often donated to Wayne Enterprises and were close to the owner, Bruce Wayne, [Y/N] spent a lot of time at Wayne manor as she grew up. Due to her family’s frequent visits, [Y/N] also had the pleasure of meeting Bruce Wayne’s adopted son, Dick Grayson. Although wary of one another at first, the two became friends in no time once they discovered how much they had in common. One of the things they had in common was playing arcade games, which was apparent from the start. Another thing they had in common, which neither one of them would find out until many years after their initial meeting, was fighting crime. It wasn’t until Dick moved out of Wayne manor and took on the persona of Nightwing that [Y/N] would find out the truth behind the nighttime gigs Dick would always use an excuse to get out of plans they made. She made this stunning revelation in one of the oddest ways possible—seeing Dick take off his eyemask after he beat up a gang of criminals she herself had come to collect and turn in. After [Y/N] found out that Dick Grayson, her childhood best friend, was Nightwing, he decided to open the floodgates; he told her about Bruce, his family before Bruce, and his previous persona, Robin. It wasn’t the ideal way to hear about the things that always had confused [Y/N] about Dick when they were younger, but she felt like these revelations brought them closer in the end. In fact, her discovery was one reason why both of them were at the arcade tonight; dinner, games, and then their weekly night patrol. They had been doing it every Friday since [Y/N] had discovered Dick’s secret persona.

“Well,” [Y/N] said, “hear anything interesting lately while you’re out and about? Anything that could help us know what to look out for tonight.”

“Actually, I have. Word on the street is that a group of wannabe bank robbers is planning their first heist tonight, at one of the smaller local ATMs.”

[Y/N] gave him a disappointed look.

“That’s it? ATM robbers?”

“It’s nothing too exciting, I know, but it’s something the two of us could take care of in no time. Plus, tons of crimes occur ‘spontaneously’ in this city, and there also might be more planned crimes occurring tonight that slipped beyond our radar. Speaking of which, did you hear any promising leads for tonight?”

[Y/N] tensed up, remembering that she failed to tell Dick about the night classes she started taking at the beginning of that week. The classes wouldn’t impact her ability to patrol with Dick every other Friday, including this one, but the other Friday nights would be occupied.

“Oh, Dick, I’m so sorry. When we were talking on the phone the other night, I meant to mention that I’ll be on campus every other Friday night taking a course that's required for my degree. My classes started this past Monday, so I wasn’t able to go around and talk to some of our sources this past week.”

A flicker of disappointment and confusion filled Dick’s eyes.

“Night classes? Why are you telling me this so late? I should’ve known about this as soon as the thought entered your mind.”

“Because it slipped my mind—I didn’t intentionally hide it from you or anything.”

The pink neon light from the arcade machine became less and less contrasting with Dick’s skin the redder his face became.

“Why would you even want to take one, though? You have a responsibility to the citizens of the city.”

[Y/N] was taken aback. She had never seen Dick act this way towards her before, and it was frankly starting to piss her off.

“I love helping people, but we all have to do things to better ourselves while trying to help others. If I can’t make sure I’m doing what I need to do, I won’t be able to help anyone else.”

Dick grimaced, his arms uncrossing so he could use his right hand to rub his forehead.

“Ok,” Dick snorted.

 _“Ok”? Just “ok”?!_ [Y/N] thought, before pushing her chair away from the table so she could stand up.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you tonight, Dick, but I think it would be best if we just started getting ready for our patrol. We can talk about this later. Do you still have the tab?”

“Of course. I did promise I would pay it this time, did I not? And I DO keep my promises.”

[Y/N] rolled her eyes before heading towards the front door.

“Great. See you in a bit.”

* * *

A harsh gust of wind whipped up [Y/N]’s hair as she gazed upon the streets surrounding the abandoned apartment building she and Dick would meet up on before they started their weekly patrol. It was only a few blocks from the arcade, and since abandoned buildings such as these were hotspots for local druggies, the duo’s weekly meet-ups didn’t seem that suspicious to passersby and were ultimately convenient. Or at least, the spot was USUALLY convenient, but not so tonight. Dick and [Y/N] had chosen this spot primarily because of how quickly they could regroup here after their Friday night arcade sessions, but tonight Dick was stalling. He was running late, most likely because he was upset that [Y/N] didn’t tell him the news about her night courses sooner. But what could she do? She had apologized, and she couldn’t change the past, so she just had to suck it up and deal with Dick’s immature outburst.

Staring down at her watch for what felt like the hundredth time, [Y/N] sighed in exasperation. Flickers of irritation lit up her nerves, resulting in the brief tapping of her left foot.

_Is this what Bruce had to deal with back in the day? Gee, I pity the poor fella._

Before she could think any more about the situation, a sudden burst of sirens cut through the unusually still Gotham air. A police vehicle pulled out of an abandoned alleyway before turning down the street and speeding off. [Y/N]’s heartbeat sped up, her entire countenance lightening up. Well, if Dick was running this late and a crime was occurring somewhere, that was [Y/N]’s cue to get the show on the road. Dick would know where she was heading if he checked his location app, which they had synched to each other’s location if they ever got split up. If he really wanted to fight with her, he could look there.

_Sorry, Dick, but duty calls._

Shaking herself out of her foul mood, the excited heroine sprinted across the rooftop, leaping onto the next one with no hesitation. The police car was headed north into the depths of the East End, a region of Gotham notorious for the number of crimes committed within.

 _I’m sure this will be even better than the ATM robberies Dick had in mind,_ [Y/N] thought, as she jumped onto the next building, her body thrumming with excitement.

She followed the police car across multiple blocks, twisting in turning across streets the heroine had long-since forgotten until she arrived at a place that she never thought she would see again. The Monarch Theater, the theater where Bruce Wayne and his parents had seen a show together for the last time before they were killed in Crime Alley.

The police car cut off its sirens and turned into the alley adjacent to the theater. Perching on top of the side of the dilapidated theater’s roof, [Y/N] gazed down as two police officers exited the vehicle and walked into the heart of the darkened side road, where a cloaked figure was awaiting them.

 _This doesn’t seem right._ [Y/N]’s eyes narrowed as the hooded figure began to speak.

“You better have a damn good reason for calling me out here.”

“We do, sir, we promise.”

“Well, then, spit it out.”

“Word has it that the bird and his broad know about the ATM robbery you staged to distract them. Do you think they know the purpose of the robbery?”

_Staged ATM robberies? Shit._

Bristling at the term ‘broad,’ [Y/N] prepared herself.

The hooded figure was silent for a moment before emitting a deep chuckle. “They might not have, but they do now.” The figure motioned up to where [Y/N] was sitting, the fake police officers following his lead. “Get her, gentlemen—make sure she stays in one piece.”

_That’s my cue._

Using her handy grappling gun, [Y/N] swung down from the rooftop and kicked one of the goons down on his back, sticking the landing. The second goon swung at her with a naked fist, [Y/N] ‘tsking’ his attempt as she evaded it.

“I swing down using a grappling hook, and you try to hit me with your bare hands? Awe, sweetie,”

The goon lunged forward again as [Y/N] dodged it with a cartwheel.

“you might just be outmatched.”

The cloaked figure retreated as the goon came in for the third time. Instead of evading it completely, [Y/N] ducked and delivered an uppercut, which was made even more painful by the brass knuckles hidden in her gloves. The crook crumbled to the floor, taken aback by the powerful punch.

“I would stay down if I were you. I would hate to see you lose any more teeth.”

When the man weakly nodded his head, [Y/N] dashed and headed after the fleeing figure, all the while thinking about her absent partner’s whereabouts.

_I hope Dick didn’t follow up on that ATM lead; he could be in a world of trouble._

As [Y/N] rounded the corner of the building, she came face to face with an entire gaggle of goons.

 _Of course, there are more goons around the corner_ _—there’s always more._

“I hope you wanted action, little girl because you’re gonna get it.” The mysterious figure stated, sliding into the passenger seat of the getaway car. “The man who brings her to me in one piece gets a promotion.” The passenger door slammed before the car took off in a puff of smoke.

After their cowardly leader had safely retreated, the men turned their attention towards the uniform-clad woman.

“Well, gentlemen,” [Y/N] started, reaching towards her utility belt to grab her collapsible bo staff, “who’s vying for that promotion?”

Letting out a cacophony of pathetic war cries, three tattooed men ran at [Y/N] as she clicked a button on her bo staff, allowing it to extend to its full size. In one fell swoop, the men were on their backs, courtesy of the heroine’s bo staff. As other men lined up in an attempt to take [Y/N] down, they were met by a barrage of explosive wing-dings, which stunned the approaching men. Before [Y/N] could turn her head up to see who it was, Dick landed on the ground next to her, clad in his Nightwing gear.

“I’m afraid none of you will be receiving that promotion tonight.”

Stepping around their stunned comrades, more men approached as Dick prepared his escrima sticks.

“Glad you finally decided to finally show up,” [Y/N] teased, using the end of her bo staff to stun a goon before delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of his head.

“Well, you didn’t make it easy,” Dick huffed, twirling and knocking two lackeys on the side of the head with his escrima sticks. “You must’ve lost your phone along the way because I found it in an alleyway a few blocks away.”

_Oops._

“Sorry about that, I must’ve gotten a bit too carried away with my roof leaping,” [Y/N] explained, delivering a palm strike to a dazed lackey, sending him backward.

“I’d say,” Dick laughed.

The two carried on beating up the mysterious figure’s henchmen in silence after that, deciding that they could talk once the fight was over.

Once Dick and [Y/N] were surrounded by the bodies of knocked-out goons and they called the police department about the situation, the two retreated to the front of the alley, ensuring the men remained in place until the cops arrived. Both heroes were leaning up against two crumbling buildings on either side of the alleyway entrance, Dick staring ahead and [Y/N] staring up at the faint twinkling stars. Wanting to end the awkward silence, Dick spoke up.

“So, do you want to talk about what happened back there?”

[Y/N]’s eyes flicked from the stars to the figure to the man to her right before she turned to face him.

“Happened with what, exactly? The mysterious figure that got away or at the arcade?”

Dick turned his head to the left. “Well, I would like to talk about both, preferably, but let's start with the weird figure. Who do you think it was? You were at the scene before I was, so you should know more than I do.”

“I have no idea to be completely honest. Unless the figure was using a voice concealer, they had the voice of a younger man, so let's start there. Do we know any younger men who have infiltrators in the police department?”

Dick went stiff, turning his head away from [Y/N]. “No, no, we don’t.”

“Well, based on your reaction, I would say you have an idea of who it could be. Who do you have in mind?”

Before Dick could answer, multiple squad cars pulled up, with Commissioner Gordon stepping out of one of them. The duo straightened up, approaching the officer and spilling what they knew about the scene.

* * *

“Now, do you wanna talk about what happened back at the arcade?” Dick asked, the duo now sitting on the roof of their usual meeting place. “I feel like we really need to address what happened.”

“Isn’t the weird figure a more pressing issue?”

Dick shook his head. “It might be important, but not at the moment. We can’t work together to solve what’s going on with them until we define what our partnership is.”

“You say this is a partnership,” [Y/N] said, “yet we’re doing things on your terms—again.”

“Please,” Dick pleaded. “I feel like this is something that we really need to discuss.”

[Y/N] stared into Dick’s blue eyes, sensing a true sense of urgency lying within. She could tell getting this out of the way meant a lot to him, so she would be patient.

“Fine, I’ll bite,” she acquiesced, leaning up against the half-wall surrounding the rooftop. “Say your piece.”

The man smiled, scooting next to [Y/N]’s position against the walls.

“First, I just want to say how sorry I am for how I reacted.”

The heroine’s eyes widened, a pleased grin coming across her face. “Dick Grayson apologizing for his mistakes? Well, I never thought I’d live to see the—“

“[Y/N] please, I’m dead serious. I was completely wrong in my outburst today, and I just want to say, well, I’m happy for you.”

He took her left gloved hand in both of his, squeezing it emphatically.

“I’m so happy that you’re deciding to take this step. I know how much you’ve always wanted to become a [d/j]. Ever since we were kids, you would tell me how much you aspired to take on your dream career. So, knowing that you’re taking the next step you need to take to reach your goal, well… I’m proud of you. I know my childish outburst earlier doesn’t exactly convey my feelings about the situation, but, as you know, I truly love our Friday night patrols, and after suddenly hearing they won’t be as frequent as I would like, I was shocked. And I let my shock out in an inappropriate manner, a manner in which you didn’t deserve. Every other Friday is fine by me. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

After a brief moment of silence between the two, Dick apologized after realizing he was still holding [Y/N]’s hand and let her hand go. Once he let go, the heroine lunged forward, bringing Dick into a deep embrace. She buried her head into his right muscular shoulder, hiding the single tear that escaped one of her [e/c] eyes. Dick placed his hands on his friend’s lower back, returning the embrace.


End file.
